The open world, wanton ballistics-flailing shenanigans of Sleeping Dogs have been much ballyhooed. Action-inclined gamers are entrenched in endeavors to barter dubious narcotics (“This aspirin, man… it’s the good shit. I can hook you up, no worries. Disregard the half-witted smiling dinosaur on the label. It may say Barney’s No-More-Booboos on the box, but this isheavy stuff, right here.”) /their elderly mothers for the opportunity to join our protagonist Wei Shen in his trigger-happy travails. The end of the torment is nigh! With a rock solid North American release of August 14, Dogs is, as we speak, checking its oil pressure and strapping up with many assault rifles in final preparation. Don’t take our word for it though. Reach out to the game on Twitter and it will respond. A tad creepy, yes, but true.

Conversely, though, little had previously been disclosed regarding the mano a mano combat.We showed you the video that revealed guns ‘are treated as power ups in the world of Sleeping Dogs,’ and provided the fleeting-yet-spectacular showcase of environmental kills and grappling punch-tastic. Meathooks and swordfish and fish-slaps, oh my!